Melissa Gregory Rue is a film writer, director, and producer based in Louisville, Kentucky. She grew up on a cattle and tobacco farm in Bourbon County, Ky. long before smoking was out and Bourbon was cool. Melissa earned her M.A. in English Literature from Portland State University and a certificate in filmmaking from The Northwest Film Center. After three decades in Portland, Oregon that included working as an English professor for 20 years, studying film production, and countless outdoor adventures, she moved back to Kentucky at the beginning of the pandemic to be closer to family. Melissa’s dramas and documentaries have screened in film festivals around the world. Her feature documentary, LIVE OUT LOUD, premiered at Dances With Films in Hollywood in 2022. The movie was awarded Best Human Rights Film by the Amsterdam International Film Festival and Best Civil Rights Themed Film by New York’s IO Film Festival. Shot over one year, LIVE OUT LOUD tells the stories of three unhoused people in Portland, Oregon who begin to heal from childhood trauma by learning to make films in a grant-funded class. LIVE OUT LOUD has been signed for worldwide distribution by Porter + Craig Film and Media in Beverly Hills and will be available for streaming later this year. In addition to working on her own projects, Melissa co-produced Connectivity Project (2020), a documentary series that explores how our stories and actions can have powerful ripple effects around the world. She served as a juror, vice president and then chair of the McMinnville Short Film Festival from 2021-2023 and helped relaunch Oregon Doc Camp with Women in Film - Portland many years ago. As a filmmaker living with chronic Lyme and autoimmune disease, Melissa is eager to get started on her next documentary that will advocate for better access to treatment for the many people living with those disabilities.